Yet Another Happy Flatwound Newb

jaywa · #1 06-24-2010, 10:55 AM

I've got a sub gig coming up that hopefully will turn into a permanent thing. It's a good young female singer doing jazz standards and also Motown stuff plus newer R&B like Joss Stone, Corrine Bailey Rae etc. So I figured after 29 years of playing rounds, maybe it was time to put some flats on the 78 Precision (w/EMG P/J pickups) and see what happened.

WOW!

Of course it's not the sound I'll need for every gig but for this (and hopefully future ones in this band) it is freakin PERFECT. We ran down a couple jazz standards at rehearsal last night and the other guys in the band said, "man that sounds just like a fretless". I'm serious, my fretted, maple board Precision is "makin mwah", which I never dreamed would we possible. And so easy to play. I'm lovin it. Just had to share.

fearceol · #2 06-24-2010, 11:13 AM

Congratulations on your discovery. Better late than never.

Out of interest, what brand are your flats ?

ironrat · #3 06-24-2010, 11:47 AM

Welcome home!!!!

jaywa · #4 06-24-2010, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fearceol

Congratulations on your discovery. Better late than never.

Out of interest, what brand are your flats ?

I was hoping no one would ask that... not cause I'm a string snob but cause I can't remember, and I threw the packaging away already.

I think they are GHS. I've used Ernie Ball Slinky rounds for years but I don't know if EB even makes flatwounds and if they do, the store didn't carry them. The selection of flats in the store wasn't very good (I don't think they sell a lot of flatwounds around these parts). They had D'Addarios but only in 5-string sets. And they had another higher-end brand too but not in the gauge I wanted (45 - 105). So I defaulted to the GHS's, plus they were only like US$26 so I figured if I didn't like them I wasn't out that much.

stantonl · #5 06-24-2010, 05:04 PM

I'm expecting a pack of TI Flats in the mail today. Can't wait to get them on my P-Bass!

waynobass · #6 06-24-2010, 05:19 PM

GHS Precision Flats are great strings. No need to pay a lot for flats. Do they have purple wrap at the top?

M0ses · #7 06-24-2010, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

I'm serious, my fretted, maple board Precision is "makin mwah", which I never dreamed would be possible.

It's NOT physically possible for a fretted bass to mwah. I'm not sayin' you didn't hear something, but it was something else going on.

guitardefector · #8 06-24-2010, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

I've got a sub gig coming up that hopefully will turn into a permanent thing. It's a good young female singer doing jazz standards and also Motown stuff plus newer R&B like Joss Stone, Corrine Bailey Rae etc. So I figured after 29 years of playing rounds, maybe it was time to put some flats on the 78 Precision (w/EMG P/J pickups) and see what happened.

WOW!

Of course it's not the sound I'll need for every gig but for this (and hopefully future ones in this band) it is freakin PERFECT. We ran down a couple jazz standards at rehearsal last night and the other guys in the band said, "man that sounds just like a fretless". I'm serious, my fretted, maple board Precision is "makin mwah", which I never dreamed would we possible. And so easy to play. I'm lovin it. Just had to share.

Congratulations, mate! And to think all this time my basses believed Christopher Columbus.

jaywa · #9 06-25-2010, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M0ses

It's NOT physically possible for a fretted bass to mwah. I'm not sayin' you didn't hear something, but it was something else going on.

Oh well, close enough for me anyway.

I'm pretty sure they're the GHS Precision Flats. They have purple wrap at the top, and they're stainless steel. I was thrilled to get them for the price I did after hearing all the horror stories of how expensive flatwounds are. I went through a few sets of GHS Boomer rounds back in the day and was never really blown away, but these flats impress me. They were within a dollar or two of what I pay for my rounds. And considering I'll probably only be gigging this bass once or twice a month, I expect they'll last darn near forever.

**TheMutt** · #10 06-25-2010, 06:38 AM

Welcome to the wonderful world of flats!

You shouldn't have too much of a problem with lifespan on your flats. It's basically a battle between how dirty you can stand the strings to get (this depends on your hygiene and physical chemistry), how "dead" you can stand the strings to be (this differs from rounds mind you), and how well the strings stay in tune (if they are majorly old, they will eventually be unable to hold tune).

That being said, I would say that a set of flats generally lasts me about a year or two before I change them out. This is compared to rounds that I used to change every 3-6 months.

jaywa · #11 06-25-2010, 06:46 AM

The other thing I noticed is, even though I used identical gauge rounds on my P, now with the flats the action seems to be a tich lower. I'm considering raising the saddles a bit cause even though I love low action this seems almost too low. I really have to watch my touch especially when plucking up closer to the neck.

I also have to decide if I want to go ahead with my plan to retrofit my P back to passive pickups. That had been the original plan, but I like how things are sounding so much now I may just stick with the EMGs.

**TheMutt** · #12 06-25-2010, 06:57 AM

Generally speaking. Flats have a lower tension than rounds. Some only slightly (IMO GHS and D'Addario fall into this catagory), some very much so (TI's for sure).

amosjones · #13 06-25-2010, 07:05 AM

I use flats for everything I play now.

Bassman316 · #14 06-25-2010, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waynobass

GHS Precision Flats are great strings. No need to pay a lot for flats. Do they have purple wrap at the top?

The GHS Precision flats have a purple wrap at the top, no wrap on the ball end. GHS Precision flats are GREAT. They're different from Chromes in that they're a more thuddy and traditional sounding flatwound. I have them on my SX P-bass, and I love them.

rooted · #15 06-25-2010, 10:04 AM

Welcome to the wonderful world of flats!

Just got the TI flats this week. They are OMG good! I have a set of Roto 77le's that are huge, but these TI's are like the perfect set of strings tension wise and tone wise. Can't wait to hear them after a month or two. The price is steep, but I can't see ever replacing them. The rotos' tune a step down nicely though because of their massiveness (110 - 50).

edot3021 · #16 06-25-2010, 10:15 AM

I actually strung up my "backup" bass (Fender American P-Deluxe) with some daddario chrome flatwounds about a week ago. I finally got around to plugging it in and playing them last night at band practice and I got the same reaction from my mates who thought they sound great. I knew they would sound different, but the change kind of blew me away. I am trying to keep myself from going overboard, but I was ready to string up all my basses with flats and maybe pull out the frets too! Nonetheless I am definitely going to have at least one bass with flats on it and that "backup" bass will probably get a little more attention now.

jaywa · #17 06-25-2010, 10:24 AM

When I was just plunking around solo thru my amp I was underwhelmed by the flatwound sound, but in a band context it just really seems to work.

Bassman316 · #18 06-25-2010, 01:27 PM

That's where flats shine, is in a band context. I've found that while they might not sound like much by themselves, they give you a whole new command over the low end in the mix that I don't want to say is completely absent with roundwounds, but it's different. Check out the "Confessions of a flatwound convert" thread. TB'er Sundogue posted a really good story with a lot of good points about considering flatwounds.